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McKennedy cleans up at race banquet

By Kevin Rice, krice@lowellsun.com

Updated:
12/11/2012 06:34:39 AM EST

WEST SPRINGFIELD -- Three area drivers were among those honored during Saturday's Valenti Modified Racing Series Banquet, with Jon McKennedy of Chelmsford accepting multiple awards as the series champion. It was his third title in the past four seasons.

"Jon is a very respected driver," Hall of Fame car owner Art Barry told the audience. "He likes to drive with respect to his competitors and he brings that car home every week and I'm very proud of that."

McKennedy won the championship because of consistency and speed. He finished in the top five in 12 of 15 events, with three wins. Despite running in a series that had full fields of cars, he finished in the top ten in every race except for one. In June at Lee, N.H., he was crashed out of the race lead with fewer than 20 laps remaining.

"This season Art and Kenny Barry gave me the opportunity to focus on my driving rather than working on the car," McKennedy revealed as part of his speech. "It had nothing to do with how much money I could bring to the table. You (Art) believed in my talent and knew I could get the job done."

Norm Wrenn of Nashua, N.H., earned a third place award, and also the Sunoco Hard Charger award, designed to reward a driver for gaining the most positions from start to finish in each event. Louie Mechalides of Tyngsboro finished fifth in the season standings driving for Kevin Stuart of Lowell.

Race news: A 19-race schedule was released for the 2013 VMRS season last week, with events at Lee on June 28 and October 13 included .

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.. Three ISMA Supermodified events from the preliminary '13 schedule have been removed. A May race in Waterford, Conn., an August event in Delaware, Ontario and the Seekonk October show have all been removed, with at least one addition to the schedule being considered...

Star Speedway in Epping, N.H., announced a return of the SBM 125 Modified Open. The third annual event was the highest paying single race in 2012 among the three area tracks, and the third annual event next June 15 is expected to pay even more, and draw a field of close to 40 cars...

The following weekend, on June 21-23, the New England Dragway in Epping will host an NHRA National event, which will almost certainly bring the largest crowd for any race event in New England in 2013 outside of Loudon, N.H. ... Speedway Children's Charities from the New Hampshire Motor Speedway recently announced a donation of $169,000 split between 44 organizations, which will help more than 49,000 children in need. A ceremony will be held at noon Tuesday in Manchester, N.H., to announce the distribution of funds.

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